Buying Used PC Hardware: A Beginner’s Guide

Jonathan Dantzler

Beginner's Guide to Used Hardware

If you’re close to the ‘Destitute’ level on our main chart—or even within spitting distance—new hardware prices can seem insurmountable. But what if you didn’t have to pinch pennies waiting for a sale? What if you could have a powerful—if slightly dated—system for a fraction of the cost?

Thankfully for you, there’s a surprisingly huge market for used hardware online! eBay is obvious, but forums like /r/hardwareswap are tight-knit, self-policing communities of enthusiasts eager to swap silicon. It’s also quite safe: PayPal is the most popular payment method, with their Goods and Services option offering buyer protection in the event of fraud.

That being said, not all used components age as gracefully as others. We’ve created this guide so you can shop wisely.

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The Newbie’s Guide to PC Cooling Fans

Jonathan Dantzler

beginner's guide to PC case fans

So, you’re building a PC; with modern components running faster (and hotter) than ever, you’ll need at least one fan. Searches reveal thousands of models bragging about their CFM or noise levels or bearing type. How do you cut through the marketing jargon? This guide for beginners should demystify computer cooling!

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Choosing the Right Monitor: Size, Resolution, Price – and Sitting Distance!

Jason Ogaard

monitor-size-resolution-sitting-distance

If you peruse sites like this, there’s a good chance you’ve come across the monitor discussion. “I’m buying a monitor, what size/resolution/refresh rate should I get?” Choosing the right monitor can be as important as (or, in some situations, even more important than) anything else in your build.

After all, your monitor is how you experience your build. The best graphics card and CPU don’t mean much if the monitor you’re using can’t show you the benefits of those parts.

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4 Troubleshooting Tips for Overclocking Your PC

Alex

Often, PC enthusiasts will speak of overclocking the way car enthusiasts discuss high-performance engines, with megahertz and voltage taking the place of horsepower and torque. Overclocking is often a relatively simple way to squeeze out extra performance from computer components; however, problems sometimes do arise. Luckily, most problems faced with overclocking are easily fixed with some basic troubleshooting techniques.

For our purposes, we’ll look at issues affecting the components that are overclocked the most: the CPU and GPU.

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What on earth is RTX?!

Chris Cunningham

So, although the graphics cards have been out for a while now (although still a little hard to get hold of), the games with RTX support haven’t really been there. So now that some games are coming out with shiny RTX options, we’re going to take a look at performance and ask what on earth RTX is actually used for!

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How to Upgrade an Older PC

upgrade-older-pc-cover-image

PC photo by Nikitarama

Your computer has faithfully been by your side for all these years. You can’t replace it (for whatever reason), but with Christmas coming up, you decide it’s time to give your little friend a much-deserved gift.

Or maybe it’s frustrating you with sluggishness. Either way, you’ve got a great excuse to give it a little performance boost. What I’m here to do is to help you figure out what you can do to upgrade your older system on a budget.

This list is more suited to people who fit the following:

  • You focus on gaming or productivity tasks
  • You might use these components in another computer build

It is okay if the above doesn’t quite apply to you. This info can still be really helpful. Just keep in mind that you might have different upgrade options than listed.

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Updates to the Logical Increments Site

We’ve made some small updates to the style of Logical Increments.

If the site looks weird, like if the menu at the top is taking up a ton of space, try clearing your cache and reloading the page.

Hopefully it should be easier to navigate now, especially for new people, and should be easier to use on mobile devices.

We’re also working on more substantial upgrades. We know the site needs to be more mobile friendly, and the main parts table needs some love. (prices automatically up to date, more info displayed, finally??) Coming soon!™

Please email any problems, suggestions, or rants about the new site to contact@logicalincrements.com, or comment below. Thanks!

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Our Picks of the Best 2018 Cyber Monday and Black Friday Deals on PC hardware

We’ve spent many hours and sleepless nights going through the best PC hardware deals from Newegg, Amazon, and others for Cyber Monday and Black Friday:

Newegg’s Cyber Monday Deals – We’ve gone through every single deal on Newegg for Cyber Monday (all roughly 3600 of them), and narrowed them down to our 77 top recommended discounts.

Amazon’s Cyber Monday Deals – Just like on Black Friday, Amazon’s offerings pale in comparison to Newegg, but there are a few promising offers here.

3 Cyber Monday PC Builds – Three full example PC builds (for $525, $1260, or $3260) using only parts discounted for Cyber Monday.

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